Josh Fields Rumors

Mariners' Top Pick Remains Unsigned

Jim Hickey of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is reporting that the Mariners and their top pick, Josh Fields, remain about $500K apart in their negotiations. As a player that has completed his college eligibility, Fields was not subject to the August 15 deadline for picks to sign. Fields' agent, Scott Boras is demanding $2MM while the Mariners are said to be offering $1.5MM, which is in line with the MLB's slotting recommendations. Hickey feels it is unlikely that Boras and Fields will move from their asking price and seem willing to let Fields pitch for an independent league team this year...   Continue Reading

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Draft Pick Signing Update: Posey, Matusz, Alonso

10:51am: Baggarly has the latest on Posey. He says it's a "spitting contest" between Scott Boras and Posey's agency to have the highest-paid draft pick. 7:46am: The latest links involved unsigned first-round draft picks. Sam Mellinger explains the decision Eric Hosmer faces. He might have to go against Scott Boras' advice. Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle denies Andrew Baggarly's Buster Posey report yesterday, calling it "premature Posey-ing." Schulman talked to the Giants' director of player personnel, who said the deal is not done and the number is not $7.5MM. There is no verbal agreement, either. Schulman also heard...   Continue Reading

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Carroll's Latest: Duchscherer, Burnett, Ibanez, Cabrera

Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus has some rumors to consider this afternoon. The Tigers are 5.5 games out, but are still on the fence about buying or selling. Carroll says there's "much more substance to rumors of the White Sox going after Justin Duchscherer" as compared to the one about the A's pursuing Jason Bay. The Phillies could jump back in on A.J. Burnett if the price comes down. Also - could Burnett clear waivers in August? The Rockies' demands for Brian Fuentes might be holding up the relief market. Regarding Raul Ibanez, the Mariners either want to tack Jose...   Continue Reading

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Rosenthal's Latest: Laird, Washburn, Nady, Bay

Ken Rosenthal has more new material. I've updated the post, as Rosenthal updated his. The Yankees are looking for catching - Rosenthal and Jon Heyman do not agree with Peter Abraham. Rosenthal says the Yanks have expressed interest in Gerald Laird and Miguel Olivo. The Rangers want young pitching for Laird, however. Jarrod Washburn's limited no-trade protection includes the Yankees. He might want compensation to waive that, putting him out of the Yanks' price range. Washburn, a Boras client, wouldn't mind pitching in New York though. The Mariners are looking for young pitching for him. It sounds like the Yankees...   Continue Reading

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No Crede Trade Imminent

Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports that it's become "increasingly likely" that Joe Crede will get the Opening Day nod at third base for the White Sox, with Josh Fields heading to Triple A. It's an unfortunate situation for the 25 year-old Fields, who doesn't have much left to learn in the minors. Gonzales adds that trade talks with the Giants have "all but ceased," and the Dodgers don't seem all that interested either. Crede is trying to shake off the rust (his last regular season game was June 4th of last year) and prove he's an above average...   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Crede, Rodriguez, Marlins

Just a couple items worth mentioning: Matt Hurst notes Elasticman Scot Shields says "(Heck) yeah" to whether or not the Angels should dish out the big bucks for Francisco Rodriguez, this despite incentives in Shields contract that would kick in should he be transitioned into the closer role. Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times touches in on Joe Crede's fate after notching his first homerun of the spring, easing concerns for his surgically repaired back. Says Cowley, "Crede's agent, Scott Boras, already has told general manager Ken Williams that they want to explore the market. With Josh Fields waiting...   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Fields, Garcia, Bonds

Welcome to today's roundup... Josh Byrnes would never give a pitcher eight years, just so you know (hat tip AZ Snakepit). South Side Sox explains how Josh Fields was posturing in not signing his contract. Unrelated interesting fact - Fields seemed headed to Florida in a Miguel Cabrera for a split-second in December. Bobby Jenks' salary is set to skyrocket next year, as he becomes arbitration-eligible. Freddy Garcia's agent talks about the Mets, Yankees, and Red Sox for his client. Garcia is targeting a June or July return. DRays Bay's free season preview guide is now available. Speaking of the...   Continue Reading

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Tigers Getting Cabrera, White Sox After Andruw?

UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 5:22pm: Joe Frisaro at MLB.com says Cabrera and Willis are on the verge of becoming Tigers. And to think some people called the Winter Meetings boring. The Marlins got some absolute studs here, though it's surprising they couldn't get more dealing the two separately. UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 5:15pm: Ozzie Guillen confirms Chicago's interest in Andruw, despite his agent. UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 5:04pm: This is out of control! Now Jim Molony is saying the Tigers are nearing a blockbuster eight-player deal to get Cabrera and Willis for Maybin, Miller, and four others. In the same breath Molony adds..   Continue Reading

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White Sox Make Third Base Decision

MLB.com's Scott Merkin reports that Kenny Williams has made a decision about his third base logjam. Williams wouldn't say who's on the way out - Josh Fields or Joe Crede. It stands to reason it's Crede though. Perhaps Williams' decision is to trade Crede, no matter what. I can't see why it would ever get to the point of non-tendering him. Though the team's assistant GM recently spoke to Scott Boras about Crede, they discussed his back rehab and had no extension talks. The Phillies and Brewers both make sense for Crede   Continue Reading

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Rosenthal's Latest: Cabrera, Haren, Barrett

Rumor guru Ken Rosenthal checks in with a new column this afternoon. The White Sox are legitimately in the mix for Miguel Cabrera, but many stars would have to align for it to get done. Suitors with better prospects would have to balk, and the Sox would have to part with Josh Fields and Gio Gonzalez. Kenny Williams might even have to cash Jon Garland in and turn around and flip that prospect in a Cabrera deal. Regardless, it's clear that Williams is once again thinking big. Let's face it: the Twins aren't retaining free agents Torii Hunter or Carlos..   Continue Reading

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Soriano, Sanchez, Meche: Much Ado About Nothing

Seems that a couple of the more interesting rumors to come up today have proven to be nothing at all. The first was ESPN's rumor that Brandon McCarthy would be included in a Soriano to the White Sox deal, which was to be extremely close. It seems that the deal has fallen through at least in the short term, and Kenny Williams stated publicly that neither McCarthy nor Josh Fields will be traded. Still in the stockpile: Brian Anderson, Ryan Sweeney, Jerry Owens, Sean Tracey, Lance Broadway, Casey Rogowski, and Charlie Haeger. It has also been noted that Humberto Sanchez..   Continue Reading

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Carl Crawford On The Block?

A source close to the Devil Rays' scouting department filled me in recently on their outfielder extravaganza. It's well known Joey Gathright is on the block. If you're looking for a scrappy player with no power who runs real fast, Gathright is your man. It's unknown whether Gathright can make his on-base skills shown at Triple A Durham translate to the big leagues, but some team besides the Rays will find out soon enough. I'm not yet able to narrow down the list of his suitors to a single digit number. Infinitely more interesting than Gathright is the possibility (albeit..   Continue Reading

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